How Many Readers Speak Esperanto?

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How Many Readers Speak Esperanto?

Posted by Cliff on Thursday October 9, 2003 @02:15PM from the tongue-tied-polyglot dept.

lifebouy asks: "I just read a story about a high school that teaches Esperanto. I've noticed the majority of Esperantists I have met are IT professionals, perhaps because it nurtures our need to explore new things. So I was wondering, how many Slashdot readers speak Esperanto? Has anyone else noticed the high rate of IT Esperantists?"

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Probably a very small number by the_other_one · 2003-10-09 14:18 · Score: 2, Funny

You will probably find that there are more /.'rs that claim to have programed 6502's by typing in hex codes.

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134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
Here's some Esperanto ranto by orthogonal · 2003-10-09 14:27 · Score: 4, Funny
So I was wondering, how many Slashdot readers speak Esperanto?

Look it's one thing to assume that /.ers
- don't have girlfriends,
- live in Mom's basement,
- playing Evercrack all day,
- while filling their already sagging bellies with Fritos and Mountain Dew
- and forgetting to wash.
That's ok, and it's probably true.

But implying they are so nerdy as to speak Esperanto?

That, sir, goes too far!

For that, we will duel with plastic "light sabers" at dawn! (Nerd dawn that is, 1 PM local time.)
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Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Esperanto? by shfted! · 2003-10-09 14:45 · Score: 3, Funny

Mi paroli ne esperanto, vi malg^entila bul!

(For those that don't get it, it's a rough translation of "I don't speak esperanto, you insensitive clod!")

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He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
How many here speak Esperanto? by NanoGator · 2003-10-09 14:51 · Score: 2, Funny

Nulo.

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"Derp de derp."
a joke i once heard... by Doviende · 2003-10-09 14:57 · Score: 5, Funny

I heard this in germany:
If a person who speaks 3 languages is "trilingual" and a person who speaks 2 languages is "bilingual", then what do you call a person who speaks 1 language?
Answer: American
I think this illustrates the image that many people around the world have. Just about everyone in Europe seems to speak multiple languages. Perhaps Esperanto would be a good way for americans to get with the program globally ;)

--
"The value of a man resides in what he gives,
and not in what he is capable of receiving."
--Albert Einstein
1. Re:a joke i once heard... by bhima · 2003-10-09 20:08 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I have to call BS for this!
  I've been to the US, they don't all speak one language!
  I spent time in Georgia and then I went to New York (where I met someone from Minnesota). No one can claim these are all the same language, they are too dissimilar!
  I won't even begin with the travesty of calling what they speak "English"!
  
  --
  Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Re:Okay, I'll bite. by orthogonal · 2003-10-09 17:59 · Score: 2, Funny

Or at least invent some sort of giant red forehead tattoo for Esperanto speakers so you can find your one counterpart among the thousand people you'll see in a week.

Hey good idea! I've put some work into it, and I think this tattoo design is both simple and obvious. Since I can't set colors in a /. comment, I'll substitute a bold font.

Here's the tattoo I think is the best:

L O S E R

(However, a friend suggested this one; it's a bit more complex, but is perhaps even more accurate:

K L I N G O N . L A N G U A G E . I N S T I T U T E . D R O P O U T

)

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Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
How to swear in Esperanto by Dammital · 2003-10-09 20:06 · Score: 2, Funny

I remember from my youth a National Lampoon article entitled "How to Swear in Esperanto". It contained an assortment of curses ("May your penis be struck by lightning") and handy phrases ("Pardon me, could you direct me to the nearest medical facility? My penis has just been struck by lightning").
Alas, the article is lost to antiquity. But a Google search produces this useful vocabulary list.